Wen Li took Xie Tinglan and headed toward the nearest Teleportation Pavilion.
With Cangling Kingdom and Yanlin Kingdom locked in a fierce war, registration at the Teleportation Pavilion was far stricter than usual, requiring a cultivator residency permit. Wen Li spent some money on bribes, and the two of them successfully entered the teleportation array to leave the Far Cold Lands behind.
【Host, Yao Dai’s progress bar is already at 41%. Can you really bear to just let her go like this?】
“What I want isn't for her to be obedient and dependent like a parasite, but for her to have the ability to defy the plot's trajectory in the future. As long as she stays by Xie Tinglan's and my side, she'll always have a safety net. Without facing life-and-death crises on her own, how could she ever contend with the darlings of the Heavenly Dao, who have far better luck and talent than her? I'm just one person, and there are six villains. If I have to hold every single one's hand through it all, they'll have to pay me extra.”
【Host, what did you say?】 The System played dumb, pretending not to understand.
“Damned System, don't think I don't know you embezzled all the rewards from Yao Dai's progress bar going up. Not even a single notification chime! When I run into a crisis, you'd better cough up every last bit. If it's not enough, you'll make up the difference yourself, or I'll give you hell.”
The System broke into a cold sweat. 【Host, you knew?!】
Wen Li didn't feel like dealing with this greedy, foolish thing and simply barked in a cold tone, “Where is the third disciple? Lead the way.”
Scared half to death, the System didn't dare play any tricks and promptly announced, 【Oh, right, right! The next villain is Xin Jiuxian.】
Wen Li asked casually, “What are they this time—a human, a demon, or a ghost?”
The System choked. 【It seems... it's a zither.】
???
Three question marks practically popped over Wen Li's head. What the heck?!
“Is there a human, by any chance? A living person?”
【There's still one left... a super-wealthy heir. A human cultivator.】
Wen Li couldn't help asking, “And what about the other three? Aside from a zither, what else is there?”
【A demon and a ghost.】
Wen Li pinched her philtrum. With Xie Tinglan—an ancient great demon who occasionally ate people—as a cautionary precedent, dealing with disciples of wild, non-human species was already a massive headache. How were there still so many bizarre creatures lined up?
“How is the villainous descent going for the remaining four? Is there anyone born evil who doesn't require sacrificed family members or unrequited love? Hand-holding Yao Dai and Xie Tinglan was exhausting enough,” Wen Li sighed.
They were supposed to be villains, yet she had to teach them how to do bad things. It really was exasperating.
【There is, Host, there is! Of the four villains, two can already kill without batting an eye. The rich heir is somewhat naive and silly, not yet at the point where their entire family gets annihilated. And there's one who's a natural-born bad seed—she doesn't even need your guidance, and you might even end up getting killed by her.】
Wen Li's eyes lit up. “She's the one.”
【But...】 The System fidgeted awkwardly. 【You're in the Western Province, and she's in the Eastern Province.】
The provinces were separated by barriers, natural chasms, and vast oceans; traveling between even two adjacent provinces wasn't guaranteed to be possible.
Frowning, Wen Li had the System directly show her all the plotlines for the remaining four.
Taking a look, well then: there was one from the Demon Race of the Central Province, a zither spirit from the Southern Province, a wealthy scion from the Northern Province, and royalty from the Eastern Province.
The Beast Taming Sect was in the Southern Province, and Xie Tinglan couldn't be away from her for too long yet; going there would just be serving him up on a silver platter.
Her own strength was too weak for the Central Province; going there would mean instant death.
And reaching the Eastern Province required crossing provinces twice.
Hiss, so in the end, she still had to go claim that wealthy scion from the Northern Province first.
Wen Li sighed and resigned herself to fate.
Taking Xie Tinglan along, she teleported to Guiling Kingdom, the Fourth-Grade Cultivation Kingdom closest to the Far Cold Lands. It was also the cultivation kingdom with the broadest stretch of land bordering the natural chasm to the Northern Province.
Its foremost sect happened to be the Lingjian Sect, where two of her acquaintances belonged.
Clutching her chest, Wen Li walked out of the Teleportation Pavilion with an expression of profound heartache.
“My money! That just cost me five thousand top-grade spirit stones. You'll have to work to pay me back in the future.” Even though Guiling Kingdom was near the Far Cold Lands, when they teleported, they had been on the far western edge of the Far Cold Lands, while Guiling Kingdom lay on its far eastern side. It was a straight diagonal crossing across a million li, making the teleportation fee outrageously expensive.
This time, Wen Li hadn't even dared to count the spirit stones one by one, terrified that she would regret it and walk away with her money.
“...Got it,” came the response from the speechless four-year-old toddler behind her.
As for why Xie Tinglan didn't take on his adolescent form, it was simply because now wasn't the right time to show off; he had to save that single hour of transformation for when it mattered.
Grumble~
The sound of a churning stomach.
Suddenly, the two of them, having just stepped out of the Teleportation Pavilion, froze and looked at each other.
Xie Tinglan furrowed his little brow. “It wasn't me.”
Wen Li tilted her head expressionlessly. “Then was it me?”
The two turned their heads.
Whoa.
“Excuse me, that would be me, haha.”
Beside them, an old man had appeared at some point. Afflicted with dwarfism, he was only slightly taller than Xie Tinglan, with a full head of white hair and a long beard braided into a neat little plait.
Wen Li took one look at him, promptly hoisted Xie Tinglan by the scruff of his neck, and said with a helpless face, “Sorry, I already have a kid. I'm not planning on raising a second one.”
As she spoke, she bolted forward as if she had seen a ghost.
“...” Raising a child?
The dwarf old man was utterly bewildered. Why wasn't this person playing by the book?
Hey, what did this girl take him for?!
The dwarf old man immediately gave chase.
Strangely enough, even though Wen Li had channeled her spiritual energy and was moving faster than mortal eyes could follow, the dwarf old man still caught up to her.
The two ran from the bustling streets to the edge of a lotus pond, and the dwarf old man was even able to speak effortlessly as he ran.
“Who wants you to raise this old man?! You couldn't afford it anyway! Hmph, this old man saw that the child in your hand has extraordinary skeletal structure, and I have a peerless secret manual I wish to pass on to him.”
At these words, Wen Li stopped immediately and slanted a glance at him.
“Oh? I know a bit of physiognomy myself. I see you have a full forehead, the mouth of an ape, the cheeks of a monkey, and a wretched gaze that is hardly ordinary. Could it be that you're an immortal from the Heavens Beyond the Heavens, descending to the mortal realm to pick a fated one and bestow fortune upon him?”
The dwarf old man's eyes lit up, and he pointed a finger. “You guessed right! I really am an immortal!”
“Oh...”
Wen Li gasped in sudden realization. “And in exchange, all you need is a bowl of rice and a pot of wine to give us that peerless secret manual?”
“Hey, yes, yes, exactly! How did you know?”
“What a coincidence—the person you scammed last time was me.”
Wen Li set Xie Tinglan down, picked up the dwarf old man instead, and broke into a wicked grin.
“...Ah!”
About to chime in, the dwarf old man froze instantly.
That shouldn't be. He had a photographic memory; could this person have disguised herself?
Dangling in midair from Wen Li's grip, he hurriedly waved his hands with an appeasing smile. “Fellow Daoist, you must have mistaken me for someone else! This is my very first time coming to Guiling Kingdom. Before this, I was always in... in Heavenly Yuan Kingdom! You have such an extraordinary bearing and exceptional looks; how could I ever have the guts to swindle you?”
“Is that so? What a coincidence—I've stayed in Heavenly Yuan Kingdom too.”
With that, Wen Li swung the old man in an invincible 720-degree windmill spin and flung him away. “Spit out my rice! And that pot of wine!”
With his arms crossed over his chest, Xie Tinglan wore a cool, speechless look on his little face. “It was just a meal. Was that really necessary?”
Rate on N.U.
